Roy Keane has urged Manchester United chiefs to stay loyal to David Moyes and resist pulling the trigger.

But he pointed the finger at the current players for lacking the bottle to battle when the heat is on.

And he fears Bayern Munich will rip them apart on Tuesday night as the team is missing its pulse.

After back-to-back wins over West Ham and Olympiakos, it looked as if the under-fire manager had turned a corner.

Yet a world of pain was unleashed on Moyes’ shoulders once again after Tuesday’s crushing 3-0 derby defeat to Manchester City at Old Trafford.

But Keane said in Cork last night: “I know he’s on a six-year deal but six-year contracts can mean very little although I don’t think United will panic.

“Hopefully he’ll get a bit of time because anyone who has got any idea about football will know this was the biggest job to follow Alex Ferguson.

“Clever people were saying you want to follow the manager after Ferguson. So that’s why people should give the man time - give him a chance as he’s only been in there two minutes.

“At the Liverpool game I thought United would be okay but they never turned up. On Tuesday I thought they’d be alright and they never turned up ... my God they better turn up against Bayern Munich on Tuesday.

“Bayern have been doing what United were doing for years and like Liverpool in the 1980s, they’ve strengthened when they’re in a strong position.

“Manchester United haven’t done that over the last 18 months and it’s caught up with them.

“So if United perform like they did against Man City and Liverpool ... forget about beating West Ham, Olympiakos and Crystal Palace, that’s not what playing for Manchester United is about, it’s about doing it against the big teams.

“And if they play against Bayern like they have in the last two weeks then they’ll be in massive, massive trouble. Bayern are the kind of team that are ruthless and I don’t think they’ll settle for a 1-0 victory.”

Keane pointed the finger at the lack of leaders in the United team - something he can’t get his head around.

He said: “They don’t have those type of players in the group. David Moyes has vast experience, he has staff and a couple of senior players like Rio and Giggsy and they have to step up to the plate.

“One or two of the new players are getting criticism but it’s up to the players who have been there a few years and who know what United are about.

“You have to have passion. There is no problem losing games, you can lose in a good way, but the way United have lost a couple of these games was probably more upsetting than anything else.”

Referring to his own United days in the engine room, Keane added: “People talk about great days but we had tough days, we ground out results. We survived a few times and got some lucky breaks.

“When we won the league, at Newcastle we could have been 5-0 nil down at half-time yet we ended up winning with Eric Cantona nicking a goal. You need defining moments.

“This team won’t find that because they don’t have it in the group. They need to get certain players in, certain characters to make sure they battle for every minutes of every game.”